April 12, 2013

Professors' international exchange to bring new viewpoints to classrooms

Students in Jimmy Splichal's classes at Kansas State University Salina will get a new perspective on aviation management and European aviation regulations next week when another professor takes over teaching duties, thanks to a chance meeting at an aviation conference last fall.

Frank Fichert, professor and deputy director of the Bachelor of Arts in aviation management at Worms University of Applied Sciences in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, will be visiting Splichal's classes April 15-19 as part of an exchange agreement between Worms University and Kansas State University Salina.

"We met at the University Aviation Association's fall conference in Nashville in October and thought if we could put together an agreement between our universities, our students would really benefit,” said Splichal, a professor of aviation. "The benefits aren't just from students listening to guest lectures. Each of us will be exposed to different curriculums and course work that we can incorporate into our classrooms and lessons in the future.”

Splichal will visit Fichert's classroom in June.

Fichert teaches classes focusing on aviation economics, transportation policy, and environmental issues in transportation and travels the world presenting about those topics at international conferences. He is a board member of the German Aviation Research Society and a member of the German Economic Association and the Society for Traffic Management and Logistics in Germany.